Fabricated metal grand stand



Jan. l, 1935. w. N. wooDBURY FABRICATED METAL GRAND STAND Filed Nov. 30, 1931 y llllll ll.

INVENTOR Patented Jan. 1, 1935 'PATENT OFFICE FABRICATED METAL GRAND STAND William N. Woodbury, Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Virginia Bridge & Iron Company, a corporation of Virginia Application November 30, 1931, Serial No. 578,046

5 Claims.

vwith welded attaching plates by which they may be bolted or riveted to their supporting frame work.

More particularly, my invention contemplates a novel method of preforming the deck plates and of attaching to them suitable elements which will facilitate the interlocking of these plates to assemble them in position to form the grand stand decking andto receive the field welding required to render said decking weather tight.

My invention further contemplates forming the decking of plates which are bent longitudinally thereof so that each forms a complete tread and riser and I shop weld at spaced intervalsA along top and bottom edges of each plate stag--v gered angled lugs which enable the deck plates to be readily interlocked by a rocking movement imparted to one'of the plates about a horizontal axis.

My invention further contemplates attaching along one end of' each deck plate a splice plate adapted to underlie the end joint between adiacent deck plates which can thus be conveniently field welded.

My invention further contemplates each deck plate having welded to its under side attaching plates which stand clear thereof in position to engage and be bolted or riveted to the supporting frame work. '1

My invention further contemplates a simple and effective means for attachment by fleld welding of the seats to the deck plates. To this end each deck plate carries a number of short plate lugs welded along its riser portion and spaced and adapted to receive and be welded to the front leg of a seat bracket which has its rear 'leg welded to the deck plates tread portion.

My invention further contemplates the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts, which in their preferred embodiment only are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specication, and in which:-

Fig. 1 is a fragmental plan view of a portion of a grand stand showing a plurality of deck plates assembled, but omitting the seats and seat supporting elements except short plate lugs for supporting seat brackets.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line II--II of Fig. 1, illustrating the manner of welding and assembling the deckingto a typical supporting frame work, with one seatvshown in cross section to illustrate the manner of its attachment. j y

Fig. 3 is a sectional view enlarged illustrating the manner of interlocking by angled lugs the horizontal top and bottom edges of the decking plates to hold them in predetermined relationship for the field weld joint. and to reinforce such welded joint between points of support for the decking. Y

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2, illustratingthe manner of forming the eld welded end joints between deck plates.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawing.

While fabricated grand stands'are now well known and have come into extensive commercial use, it has become important to devise a new and improved design for same and a better method of erection and fabrication to the end that as much work as possible can be done in the shops and as a result the cost of erection reduced to a minimum. My invention is not concerned with the supporting frame workprovi'ded for the metal decking and, therefore, it has seemed unnecessary to more than formally illustrate by the I-beam 5 an inclined decking support cfa conventional type of structural frame work for a grand stand. This I-beam 5 is typical of any desired decking support whether of structural metal, concrete or other `type of construction material that may be selected.

My invention is concerned especially with the manner in which the deck plates are shaped and equipped with interlocking and/or splice joint members to facilitate the assemblage and welding of these plates so as to form a continuous imperforate weather-proof metal decking to which seats may be readily and simply attached.

My decking is formed of a plurality of individual plates which are bent longitudinally so that each will provide one or more complete tread sections 6 and riser sections 7 of the grand stand.

Along the horizontal top and bottom edges of each deck plate I attach like angled lugs, those welded to the riser edgebeing designated by, the

.numeral 8 and those welded to the tread edge by Y 1,980 the numeral 9. f These lugs 9 have their .upturnedv fiangeslightlyspaced-fromand rising substan-l tially above, the adjacent edge of the tread 6. In like'. manner the lugs i8 have their out-turned angled ends spaced slightly more than the thickness of the plate tread from the bottom edge of the adiacentriser section 'I (see Fig. 3) Having applied thelugs in the manner described, and it being understood" that the lugs 8 and 9 alternate lalong each horizontal deck joint and are spaced on' suitable centers, as indicated in Fig. 1, they function -to interlock .the lplates ready for the eld weld as they are assembled in vertical tiers, as will be better understood by reference to Fig. 3. f 'Ihe upper deck plate is show n in Fig. 3 with its riser portion 7 restingon 'the tread portion 6 ofthe next lower plate and is being rocked upwardly toward its` operating portion in which its riser 'I will stand substantially perpendicular to the rear edge of the tread 6 of the plate below it. and its lugs 8 will engage'undervsuch tread 6, while the lugs 9 on the latter will engage behind said riser 7. 'Ihe rear edge of the tread will then be held substantially in contact with the bottom edge of the adjacent riser, leaving the corner joint 10 ready to be welded. The lugs 8 and 9 alternate along this joint and serve to interlock the plates and reinforce the joint when field welded.

Along the underface of one end edge of each deck plate I attach, preferably by a shop weld, a splice plate 11 bent to conform to the bend in the deckplate and extending from the top to the'bottom edge thereof.

In Fig. 4 I show the abutting tread portions 6 of adjacentl deck plates, the left hand plate having the splice plate 11 attached thereto 'and the right hand plate being shown overlapping this plate 11 and secured thereto and to the otherdeck plate by the field weld 12. s

I shop weldv to the underface of the deck plate treads, adjacent to their side joints which overlie the I-beam supports 5, a connecting plate 13 which is disposed so that one end thereof is laterally maimed to miss/the .splice plate 11 and overlie the I-beam to which it is connected by bolts or rivets 14 which engage in holes properly rangement I avoid any'holes being formed in' the decking and yet I am able to secure same to its supporting beams, said connection beingV concealed from view after completion I th'us proi vide a readily assembled and mounted watertight grand standy decking.` f y In Fig. 2 vI illustrate the manner of attaching the seats to the 4grand stand decking and vI show the. seats as comprising board members lfc'on-fhave been vfleld welded.- It will be -apparent that the I-lbeams 5, having been previously drilled or punched to receive the bolts 14, and the lugs 8 and 9, the splice plates 11, the attaching-plates 13, and the seat supporting bars 19 having all been fabricated and shop welded to the shaped deck plates before shipment to the job, there will remain but simple straight line Weld work to bedone in erecting the gr md stand, such welding in field all being performed on the upper or exposed side of the decking, and by'this means I not only reduce the labor required therefor -to a minimum but I greatly minimize errors in construction and obtain an all metal grandl stand free of any holes where leakage may occur.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will. be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modiilcations, Without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:-

1. A structure comprising a stepped decking formed by plates bent to form treads and risers, spot plates shop welded to the risers, and seat brackets each comprising a front leg eld welded to its respective spot plate and having its rear leg field welded to the tread portion of a deck plate.

2. A decking unit for a grand stand comprising a metal plate bent to form a complete tread and riser,4 and right angled lugs spaced at intervals along the top and bottom edges of each unit remote from the ends thereof, each of said lugs having one leg welded to the underside of the unitv and theother projecting in a direction to hook under the edge of an adjacent unit.

3. A decking unit for a grand stand comprising a metal platebent to form a complete tread and riser, and right angled lugs spaced at intervals along the top and bottom ledges of -each unit intermediate the ends thereof, each of said lugs having one leg weldedto the underside of the unit and the other'projecting -in a direction tol hook under` the edge of an adjacent-unit, said lugs being in staggeredrelation with respect to each other. f

44. A structure vcomprising a metal decking formed of a multiplicity of plates each of which is bent to form a.complete treadand riser, inclined I beam supports for said decking, means for securing adjacent ends of the deck plates to intervals along the horizontal edges of the plates Ileted by bOltS N screws to `the horizontal Atoparemote from the I beam supports and adapted to element 16 of bra\ kets each disposed parallel with the I-beams and-each has its rear leg 17 resting on a tread 6 and ileld 'welded thereto while its forward leg 18 extends downwardly below thel tread 6 and rests upon its respective plate lug 19, 4 preferably shop Welded tothe riser. Each seatv supporting elementbracket leg 18 is ileldwelded at.20 to a bar 19 and a riser 7.

. The lugs 8 and 9, being welded to horizontal and vertical joint members, will brace the assembled deck plates and prevent movement thereof in any direction after erecting and thereafter will continue to function in bracing and rein- WILLIAM N. WOODBURY.

the -I beam supports, and-angled lugs secured at A 

